The iPhone 5, and Why I am Buying One

6 years ago

12 September 2012

Today Apple announced the release of the newest iPhone, the 5. Now while you can read about the exact features it’s comes with here, here, here, here, and almost anywhere else on the internet, I thought I would write a quick post into why I am going to be purchasing it sooner than later.

One. It’s new. I have an iPhone 4 that is now two years out of date, and as a (pretty) tech savvy person, that is very close to it’s extinction date. I also have a hot pixel in the middle of my screen that is starting to annoy me. And my old case broke when I was in Europe.

Two. The Apple ecosystem is hard to escape. I am not a fanboy in any respects (Mac notebook, Chromebook, hand-built PC, Android tablet) but I have spent the past two years using my iPhone and the few hundred apps I have downloaded on a daily basis. It’s hard thinking of switching to anything else.

Three. It’s shiny. Apple does a better job than anyone else making products that make us go, oooh! There is a reason that most newspapers and blogs will have multiple articles about this launch over the coming days, while the Nokia launch a few days ago has already faded. It’s no fluke that Apple’s chief designer was recently knighted last year.

Four. Apps. How many times have you heard a company say that they are launching an Android app only. Now how many times have you heard a company say they are launching their app on the iPhone. (Kinda points to number two, ecosystem). While I may use third-party apps a majority of the time (Gmail for Mail, Tweetbot for Twitter), companies are putting a lot of time and effort into making sure their apps on the iPhone are pixel perfect. And I want to take advantage of that.

Five. Release cycle. Every other week it seems another Android device comes out from a different manufacture supporting a different version of the OS. With my iPhone, I know I will get this phone with the newest OS, most likely skip out on the next iPhone version (5S?) next year, and then in two years time get the newest iPhone (6). It’s sweet, simple, and I usually know what is coming.

So there you have, five simple reasons why I am buying the iPhone this week. It pretty much seemed like a no-brainer at the announcement this morning for me, but after seeing and hearing many people talking about how it was only “minimal improvements” I thought I’d make my case for why I think it’s worth buying. And call me crazy, but I am even staying with AT&T.